Friday, May 2, 2008

In King Arthur Flour's Cookie Companion cookbook, they give you options. If you're looking for a chocolate chip cookie, choose between The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie or the Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookie. I personally would always prefer chewy over crunchy, but I have plenty of crunchy friends who aren't from Berkeley. With brownies, choose between fudgy and cakey. Honestly, you can't go wrong with brownies, but since we're nitpicking here and we are in the auspicious position to have exactly what we want, I made Fudgy Brownies. The name couldn't be more spot on. Fudgy with a capital F!!!!

In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a medium saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it's hot (110 to 120 degrees F), but not bubbling; it will become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs, stiring until smooth, then add the flour and nuts and chips, again stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the brownies for 29 to 32 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a tiny amount of crumb clinging to it. The edges of the brownies should be set, but the center still soft. Remove the brownies from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.

vermonter - thanks! i already know and LOVE the king arthur flour blog. in fact, in february, i made the Heavenly Hash Bars from the site and wrote about that experience. Yummmmm! You have very good taste in blogs. ;)

About Marni

I’ve always loved baking. I come from a family of amazing bakers going back many generations. And I have two large bookcases in my living room, both of them filled only with my 1000 cookbooks. I even considered it as a career and almost attended pastry school in San Francisco after college. But I went the route of digital marketing and got a Masters in Communication Management from the Annenberg School for Communication at USC. So baking is just a hobby. But I take hobbies seriously! And getting to moonlight as a baker is a great thing. I’m very happy.